The Rules of Omaha High Low Poker are similar to regular Omaha Poker Rules with one core difference which makes for a serious change in strategy. In Omaha High Low Poker there are two winners per hand, the highest hand and the lowest hand as established by the poker hand rankings. These two hands split the pot equally 50/50.

Due to the fact that there are two potential winners per hand Omaha High Low is one of the more complex poker games played today. It takes time and skill to learn this game and we recommend starting players to go slow until they reach a proficiency level adequate to the task.

Playing out an Omaha High Low Poker game is very similar to regular Omaha Poker. Each player is dealt four Hole Cards or Pocket Cards face down and the table is dealt 5 community cards face up. The Omaha High Low player must use two hole cards and three community cards to form their hand.

The Low hand must have a maximum high card of 8, known as “8 or better”, so in order to win the low portion of the pot the cards must be a 5, 6 7 or 8. In the even that there is no qualifying low hand then the winning High hand take the whole pot. The winner of the low hand is determined by which player has the lowest high cards in their hand, in the even that two players have equally high cards in their low hands then they look at the next highest card, etc. The lowest high card wins.

The best possible low hand is A, 2, 3, 4, 5, this is because Aces can be used for both Low and High hands. As you can see this is also a Straight, which can count as a strong High hand.

The Flow of the game is the same as for Omaha Poker and evolves as follows:

Pocket Cards / Hole Cards:

The dealer deals each player four (4) cards face down. These cards are available only to the player to whom they’ve been dealt.

After the Hole cards have been dealt the first round of betting occurs, this is the 1st Round of betting.


The Flop:

Once the initial round of betting has taken place the dealer deals three (3) cards face up on the table, this is referred to as The Flop. These are referred to as community cards that all players can use to form their hands. Combining the 2 of the 4 hole cards with the 3 community cards gives the Omaha High Low Poker player a total of 7 cards from which to build a hand.

After The Flop another round of betting takes place, this is the 2nd Round of betting.


The Turn:

After The Flop and the 2nd round of betting is completed the dealer deals a fourth community card also know as The Turn, the players try to use this card if possible to build their hands.

After The Turn another round of betting takes place, this is the 3nd Round of betting.

The River:

After The Turn and the 3rd round of betting is completed the dealer deals a fifth and last community card to the table, also known as the River Card, the players try to use this card if possible to build their High hand and/or their Low hand.

After The River the last round of betting takes place, this is the 4th and final Round of betting.

The Showdown:

The players that remain in the hand show their cards to see who has the Highest and Lowest hands with the bettor showing first, the Highest hand and Lowest hand as per the poker hand rankings split the pot 50/50.

Any player can get out of the hand, or fold, at any time thereby losing all claim to the pot and their previous bets.

Players MUST use 2 of their Hole cards and 3 of the community cards to build their High hands. They can also use any 2 Hole cards and Community cards to build their Low hands thereby allowing the player to win the whole pot if has both the Highest and Lowest hands.